Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that from 2006 to 2016, the town added 583 residential units, not 538 as originally reported.

CROMWELL >> It’s an innocuous piece of land — and that’s just how many of its nearest neighbors want to keep it.

For now, at least, they have gotten their way, after convincing the Town Council not to sell the 5.2-acre parcel of land located at 35 Nooks Hill Road.

The town has not kept the property up and officials said they saw no benefit in retaining it. Instead, they proposed putting the property on the market. It is zoned R-25, a half-acre residential development.

Nor did they anticipate the unusually strong negative reaction to the proposed sale from Michael Cannata, a developer who is also a member of the Planning and Zoning Commission.

The neighbors, led by Thad Hasbrouck, relied in large part on the initial deed that gifted the land to the town in the late 1800s. That deed, Hasbrouck argued, had given the land to the town for “the enjoyment of residents.”

However, the issue is complicated because no one has been able to find the original deed, Hasbrouck acknowledged. Still, he argued that the land has been used as open space for over 100 years and urged that it continue to be used for that purpose.

Town Manager Anthony J. Salvatore said the town bought the land in 1975 and in 1978 filed a quit-claim deed that listed only one restriction: that the land “shall be maintained in a neat and orderly manner so it could be used by the residents.”

That has not been the case, however. The land has been allowed to exist in its natural state. But Salvatore told the council Tuesday there are no restriction on selling the property.

The 2007 Plan of Conservation and Development listed a number of town-owned properties that could be sold and cited the Nooks Hill property as first among the parcels that should be sold.

“We don’t see any value in this property,” Salvatore said in proposing to restore the property to the tax rolls.

In his arguments about the proposed sale, Cannata raised concerns about the possible impact on school enrollment if houses are built on the site.

Cannata said keeping the property as open space presented “no burden to the town.” But developing it would cost the town, Cannata said, because the dozen or so children who might emerge from six homes that could be on the property could eventually lead to the hiring of an additional teacher and would in any case balloon the school budget.

At the request of the council, Director of Finance Marianne Sylvester reviewed the potential impact on enrollment. In her report to the council, Sylvester said from 2006-07 to 2015-16, the town added 583 residential units. School enrollment changed by two students over that period, she said.

Construction of new residential units “is not a good predictor of how that’s going to impact school enrollment,” Sylvester said.

Still, Councilor Samantha Slade said Cannata’s arguments about the possible impact on school enrollment was critical in leading her to vote “no” on the proposed sale.

Cannata’s determined effort to bar development of the property prompted Salvatore to ask whether Cannata was calling for a moratorium on residential development in town. His question went unanswered.

Following the meeting, Cannata said, “The system works.”

Hasbrouck’s wife Dale said the neighbor succeeded by “raising lots of questions and bringing lots of information” to the council.

“I thought it was a bad idea to start with,” Thad Hasbrouck said.

He described the property as “a natural habitat for all sorts of animals” and said that is as it should be.